Scarlet (A Doctor Who story)
by aerialazurepilot
Summary: A girl on a distant colony reflects on her encounters with a strange man and how much he has impacted her life, driving her to make life for her planet better...


The speaker droned to me the Speech. The same speech that I heard a million times before and would most likely hear another million times. It sang of the glory of our world, of our Order, and how we must never, ever stray from the Sacred Path. I quietly scoffed at this backwards speech, what did the speaker know? What did those who originally create the speech know? They haven't gone through what I did, they haven't seen what I've seen. I've seen many beautiful, wonderful, impossible things. Some dangerous, yes, but that's no different than here. All thanks to Him... The speech continues going on and on, and several other people move around and measure me at every angle. My mind drifts back, as bits of crimson cloth is drifted over me, I think back to that first time I met him...

_It is dark, I hear the noise and beeps of alien machinery. There is fear, screaming as dozens of others cower and flee. I do not run, I stay, clutching the hand of my twin brother as I kneel next to him, he lays on the ground, his eyes open in frozen shock. He does not move, his heart does not beat, my parents are nearby in the same state. I was only 6. An alien machine filled with endless hatred whirrs up to me, its eye-stalk looking at me accusingly. It says one word. _

"_STAND"_

_I do not. An object on the hateful machine faces me, the same object that did something to my family. I was not afraid, my father was nearby, he would protect me. Another second, and then the machine shouts a word I would never forget._

"_EXTERMINATE"_

_But it does not fire. Instead, its eye-stalk switches off and its 'head' whirls around wildly shouting that it is blind. Then the ship suddenly starts rumbling and sparks begin erupting angrily from the strange technology. I stay where I am, amused at the once scary looking machine now crashing into walls, unable to see. Then, I feel an adult hand on my shoulder. I look up and I see Him. He is a man, his hair is short and brown and a little messy, he wears a blue suit. I see his eyes and something tells me that, though I don't know him, I can trust him._

"_Come on," he says as alarms in the ship sound and explosions happen in the background. This time I want to move, but still I do not, I glance back at my family and back at him. His face turns sad. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry."_

_Then, without another word, he picks me up. I feel two heartbeats under his chest as he ran through the twisting passageways of the ship. My memories blur together, explosions, screams, cries of hatred and the Noise. It is not a noise I cannot describe. A noise so pure, with so many meanings and memories, a noise that was alive. I remember waking up in a bed next, thinking it was a dream. But I was now in my grandparents home and I never saw my family again..._

My head popped through the hole of the dress, it was tight, but I could at least breath. The speaker was now on the part of the speech about how our world was perfect and that no other could compare to it. To try would be an insult. I almost scoffed at this out loud. Our world is beautiful, yes, but there are other worlds which are as beautiful, if not more, as our home. He showed me that, when I met him the second time...

_It was ten years after the great 'kidnapping' that my family was killed in. I was an apprentice to one of the preachers, helping him preach the speech. As always, we had gathered a crowd of supporters who helped recite the speech word for word. It was then I saw his face among the crowds, he was the only one not speaking, nor was he looking at the preacher, he was looking around himself and down a lot. Like he was searching for something. He wore the same blue suit as before and I was so shocked that I had stopped mid-preach. I received a sharp rap on the head from my teacher's stick as he continued speaking. When I looked again, he was gone, but I was determined to find him._

_After the speech was done and the crowd dispersed, I was given leave and immediately set about looking for the man who saved me when I was little. I searched all around the nearby streets and alleys, before coming across a peculiar thing. A blue box, the words 'police phone box' scrolled across the top of it. It had a door, and it was partly opened. My curiosity got the better of me, and I stepped into the box. I have not regretted that choice to this day. What was inside this small blue box that could only fit one person? A whole wide circular room and possibly a hallway that lead to who-knows-what? He was there, by a console at the center of the room, looking at a screen. I took some dazed steps deeper inside. Not paying attention to where I was stepping, I tripped, stumbled, and fell. He immediately turned and faced me. We stared at one another for several seconds, neither of us moving an inch, him standing, me lying on the metal surface. He blinked several times, his eyes wide with shock before he spoke with an odd accent._

"_How did you get in?"_

_I didn't answer as I got up and saw something wriggling behind him. I tried to look around to see what it was. He turned, allowing me a look at some kind of worm that was half as long as my arm. It was in a clear glass case and it hissed as it tried to escape._

"_Ah yes," He said knowingly. "Nasty little thing, still don't know how it got on your planet, but it would've been quite bad if that thing got itself attached to someone..."_

_From there he began rambling, using words I had never heard of before, something about a 'mother-worm' hiding on the planet, trying to take control of everyone. There was a noticeable change in his demeaner afterwards, before he seemed to have a sad look, always frowning. But there was now a smile on his face and his eyes seemed alive, though the sadness remained... He tracked the 'mother-worm' deep in the sewers, hiding underneath the city, and brought me along with him, whether unintentionally or not, I do not know. But I came and I helped him in stopping the gigantic creature. Then, in it's temporarily shrunken state, he brought it back to its home planet, again bringing me along. As he turned the gears on the strange console, I heard the Noise again. It was my first experience on an alien world, my already shaken mind was overwhelmed by the unfamiliar smells and colours and... feel of the whole planet. It turned out that the worm wasn't too malevolent, it was just separated from its home. He explained this all to me as he brought the worm to normal and let it roam freely. _

_It was then that he looked at me and introduced himself, he called himself something from legend, something that was highly illegal on my world. He called himself the Doctor. It was then that he asked me, with a smile, what my name was. I stared at him, still in shock from everything, before I remembered why I went looking for him in the first place._

"_Thank you," I said. _

_He blinked. "For what?"_

"_For saving my life." I never did tell him my name..._

Small rubies were placed into the rivets of my dress that ran along my arms, the speaker was now preaching about the glory of Terra and how we must uphold the homeworld's ways. Such incorrect thinking, I thought to myself as the next portion of my extravagant dress was completed. Terra had so many ways of doing things, and those ways spread to other colonies, He showed me that...

_Not two weeks after the incident with the worm, I was walking through the Holy City, on my way to see my Preacher, about to take my test to move up the next level of apprenticeship. It was then that I turned a corner and bumped into something hard, something wooden, something... blue? I stepped back, the pain in my nose long forgotten, my eyes were wide. It was the magical and holy blue box. I gasped, and looked around, it stood out so clearly against the background and yet no one was paying the slightest attention to it. Then, almost fearfully, I knocked on the door. A moment, and then it opened enough for his head to come through._

"_Oh, hello!" He said, recognizing me instantly, then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "How'd you get on Earth?"_

_I blinked. "Earth?" It was a foreign name, unfamiliar._

_He stared at me for a moment, before his head turned and he examined the rest of his outside surroundings. "Oh, this isn't Earth... I swear I put in the right coordinates..." He shook his head._

"_Oh well, anyways, since you're here, I would like to say thanks for helping me out before with the worm business." His face turned to concern as he looked at me. "How've you been holding up?"_

"_Huh?" I say. "I'm just fine, why wouldn't I be?"_

"_It's just..." He glanced left and right. "This planet's customs can... well, its religion is... not everyone turns out well..."_

"_What do you mean? All those who follow the Sacred Path are destined for greatness, those who don't get what they deserved."_

_He stared at me, his eyes now calculating as he studied me closely. "Do you honestly believe that? Believe everything they say?"_

_I hesitated, remembering the alien planet he had taken me to, how wonderful it was. I turned around and saw some of the most fervent believers lying the street. Their clothes were dirty and made of scraps, they had no home, and they were starving, dying even, yet they still followed the Sacred Path devoutly, I could hear them mumble the speech. I looked back at him and he smiled kindly. The door was now opened fully._

"_But there's nothing other than the Sacred Path? Is there?" I looked at him hopefully, his smile grew slightly as his hand reached out to me._

"_Come on." He said. "You should see something."_

_I took his warm and cold hand without a second thought and he pulled me into the box. Then, with some gears turning and some keys pressed, the Noise came again, and I was entranced by it once more. All too suddenly, it stopped, and he asked me to step out of the door, I did. We were in another world of strange colours and sounds. This time there were people, other people, and my heart skipped a beat, for they were wearing blasphemous clothes, listening to strange heathenous music, and using... technology, they were using technology! Only the privileged were allowed to use technology. But they couldn't all be privileged, what was going on?_

"_Where are we?" I asked, fear in my voice._

_He closed the door of the blue box and walked next to me. "It's the year 2011, April 9th, we are in London, England, on the planet Earth."_

_Earth, that strange name again. He saw my confusion and he rubbed the back of his head. "I suppose another name for it you might recognize is... Terra."_

_I did a double-take. Terra, the lost homeworld of our race. The speech had spoken of Terra, the perfect paradise that our world was based from. I shook my head._

"_This can't be Terra... It's so... disorganized, people are breaking so many of the Holy rules the Speech defines, they... these people... Where's the Sacred Path!?" I shouted, drawing a few eyes to me, but I did not care. I stared at him, hoping he would have the answers._

"_There is no single, defining path." He answered. "Here, in this day, everyone has the right to choose their own path, not rely on the divine if they don't want to. Your religion encourages distrust and hatred of all others while the world you try so hard to be alike promotes peace and cooperation, has always tried to, and always will."_

_He took my hand again, and he brought me to another planet, Mars, in the year 2244, where the United Mars Government was formed peacefully with the Terran governments. Then, he took me to a planet called Caedulus IV, in the year 5056, where humans were working with 2 alien races, building a home they could all enjoy together. Then, he took me back to my planet, on the same street, not two minutes after we had left. Everything looked so wrong now._

"_If the Sacred Path is wrong, then what should I do?" I asked. The Noise was my answer. I stood on the street, alone. Then, my eyes fell to the starving, forgotten people who laid on the street, their belief in the Sacred Path keeping them from madness. I walked up to the nearest man. He was old, and he looked up at me, his eyes widened slightly._

"_Are you a priest?" He asked, his voice shaking with more than just age._

_I did not answer as I pulled out some credits and gave them to him. He stared at them in shock. I turned and left, making my way to my Preacher. It wasn't much, but perhaps it was a start..._

A woman with quick and nimble fingers tied my hair up extravagantly as the Speaker now came to the part of the speech on how heretics threatened us and how dangerous they were to us, and that they must be purged with great prejudice and without mercy. This always caused my anger to soar, and I glared at the Speaker. His eyes widened in confusion and his voice wavered, but he did not stop. He didn't know the meaning of my glare and I did not care if he would figure it out. This was one thing that I had to stop. I had seen how they dealt with the so-called heretics, once again thanks to him...

_I was on my way to my grandparents home, pale and shaking as I held __it__ in my hands. I cannot describe what __it__ is. For doing so is against the highest law on our planet, of our Order. But I knew __its__ purpose, __it__ was used to slay heretics on our beloved world. Right now, those heretics were my grandparents, they had spoken against the 17 High Priests, the leaders and stewards of our religion and world. Why was I chosen to carry out this horrible task? Because it was also a test, to prove my loyalty to the Order. Tears began trailing down my face, my grandparents were all I had left. I didn't want to do it... But I had to, the thought suddenly hit me hard and the tears immediately stopped, my sadness replaced by anger. How dare they!? How dare they speak up against the glorious High Priests!? They were our leaders, they were the wisest, most glorious of us. My grandparents had to be punished, and I would do it, and I would enjoy it greatly! I smiled, for this would be glorious._

_It was then that I heard panting behind me. I turned and saw Him, the Doctor. He had been running and was holding an odd device, which was beeping frantically. I stared at him in shock and he looked at me in surprise. _

"_You again?" He said._

_Then, I was overcome with an urge, an urge to kill. I raised __it__ and charged at him, swinging. He jumped back and pulled out a strange silver object with a blue light. He pointed it at me and a strange sound came from it. I stopped suddenly as I wondered why I was trying to kill him. Then, a scream came in my head, it was not mine. I dropped __it__ and fell to my knees, clutching my head. I realized then, that somehow __it__ was controlling my thoughts and made me want to kill my grandparents, the last of my family, and him, the one who saved me. I cried, ashamed at how I actually wanted, and would have, to kill the people who meant everything to me, nevermind the fact that I was controlled. _

_I wanted to die, I felt like I had betrayed everyone, and the only thing I deserved was death. Then, I felt warmth around me. I brought my tear-stricken face away from my hands and found that he was hugging me. He didn't say a word as I wrapped my arms around him and cried into his shoulder. I don't know how long we were like that, even after the tears stopped flowing, we remained. Then, he pulled his arms away from me and looked at __it__ on the floor. He brought out the same object that freed me from __its__ grasp, pointed the device at __it__, and __it__ dissolved into dust. I think I heard a hollow scream. _

"_What was that?" I asked, my legs shaking as I stood up._

"_I knew something else was wrong with this planet." He muttered, disgust in his voice. "That thing is something that was born from a terrible war. I don't know how it survived but I plan to stop it... today."_

_He looked at me, his fierce look turning into a kind smile in an instant. "I could use some help with this."_

_He didn't need to ask twice. He saw the determined look in my eyes and smiled. "The TARDIS is this way, come on!"_

_And like that, we ran together, for the blue box. It turned out he had been spending some time looking around my world investigating, looking for the disturbance. Now, when he killed __it__, he had a direct link to the source. We stepped out of the box, its Noise making me feel strong and safe, and came face to face with the 17 High Priests and... I still get nightmares from the thing that was the true leader of our planet, of our Order. It was there that I learned the true purpose of the Sacred Path, to control the planet and cause a building amount a distrust and hatred, slowly turning the humans there into something else. This devastated me and it even affected him somewhat, but he stood tall, faced them, and pronounced that he would not let that happen. We stood against them defiantly, 17 priests and the monster against us two. We almost lost, he almost died. I saved him, and I was the one that killed the monster. The priests, confused and angered, remained with the monster's corpse as the building around us began collapsing. We fled back to the box and escaped. _

"_You were brilliant." He said, panting and smiling. I hugged him._

"_Thank you," I said again._

"_What for?" He said with a chuckle. "Shouldn't I be saying that?"_

"_Thank you for saving my life again." I wasn't just referring to when __it__ controlled me._

_Then, with that youthful smile I had grown so accustomed to, he pulled out a small key and held it to me._

"_How would you like to become my travelling companion?"_

_Slowly, I took the key and held it before me, looking at it in every detail. It looked boring and dull, but I knew otherwise. He was asking me to come with him, to travel and see all of time and space with him. I opened my mouth to say yes, but different words came._

"_Thank you but..." I gave the key back to him, he looked at me perplexed, his smile slowly dropping. "...but I think I should stay here. My grandparents need to be protected and I think I'm the only one who can do that. And maybe find others who think similar things about the Order. And with the 17 priests gone, I might be able to change things for the better."_

_There was disappointment in his eyes, but also approval. His smile returned in full strength._

"_I think that is an excellent idea, but before I take you back home... You never did tell me your name."_

_A thought crossed my mind as my answer came. I smiled as I said, "I'll tell you my name, if you tell me your real name... Doctor."_

"_Alright, fair enough." He chuckled as he manned the controls of the box, the beautiful Noise dancing in my ears once more, not answering my question..._

The Speaker then went on to the speech on how we must stand vigilant against outsiders and foreigners, all who have not grown on the Sacred Path. They should be treated with hostility and distrust and that terrible things will happen to them and they do we should not aid them. As the final parts of the dress were fitted over me, covering my face from the Speaker, I smiled in amusement, if only he knew what I did...

_Years had passed since he and I stopped the monster and the 17 Priests and I had risen several ranks in the Priesthood. The Order was shaken by the sudden "mysterious" deaths of the 17 High Priests but a new council was selected and the Order of the Sacred Path continued to live on. But with the corruption of the 17 Priests gone, I was free to take steps to slowly and silently change our Order for the better, and even had recruited some allies who shared the same mindset as me. _

_However, I was getting impatient, I didn't like preaching the speech constantly, and I wondered if I was actually changing things. Then, on my 21st birthday, I came across him as I walked down the streets of the Holy City, my wallet now constantly empty because of all the forgotten homeless and starving people I kept coming across. _

"_Ah, there you are!" He said happily. "Glad to see you again, you certainly look brilliant, how have things been going for you?"_

_I told him all about my exploits and my plans as we walked down the street, somehow he had taken command of where we were going as we went down unfamiliar streets and alleys, but I followed him willingly. All the time I spoke, he looked at me, pride and approval in his eyes as he listened._

"_Well, it looks like you are changing things for the better. I might just come to this planet more often now..."_

"_It certainly doesn't feel like it," I said with a frown. "I still see people homeless on the streets and the Order is still clinging to the old way of the 17 Priests despite all I'm doing. I won't stop trying but do you think I can change this all?"_

"_Oh, of course, there's no doubt in my mind! There are so many tales of people like you standing up for what's right and changing things for the better of others, humanity's long life is full of people like those, like you."_

"_Yeah, too bad I don't know those people..."_

_He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, I looked back at him confused when I realized. "Oh yeah..." I said, feeling foolish. "You can travel in space and __**time**__..." He laughed as we came to the doors of the blue box. Was there any question to what was going to happen next?_

"_So!" He said as we entered the box. "Where would you like to go? Who would you like to see that had a changing impact on history? We could visit Joan of Arc as she fought to free France from the English, or we could see Adelaide Brooke or any of her descendants. Or..." Suddenly his eyes grew wide as a wide grin broke out on his face. "No... I know where we should go, it's perfect!"_

_Then, like a madman, he danced about the controls, flipping switches and pressing buttons almost at random, cackling a few times. "Hang on, I'm about to do something completely stupid! Allonsy!"_

_I held on to a nearby railing, afraid but also excited at what was to come. The Noise came again, further reinforcing my feelings. Everything shook and sparks exploded out of the console as he continued jumping around it and pressing the many buttons on it. I'm not sure if I was imagining it but I think I saw him hit the console with a mallet once or twice. Soon, the shaking and the Noise stopped and he stood by the console, a shocked, disbelieving look on his face._

"_I can't believe it worked... Well, I can but..."_

"_What... What just happened?" I asked, noting my pounding heart._

_He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Let's just say there's this planet that happened to be in the middle of this big huge time junction (Well, junction isn't really the right word but it's the simplified term). Harmless and invisible to most people but very very dangerous to time travellers trying to get to it, and I just navigated through it perfectly! And they say I can't drive! Hah!"_

_He grinned at his achievement and looked at me, gesturing for me to step out of the door. I took a breath to steady myself, then ran out the door in excitement. I took one step and felt something tickle my feet. I looked down, it was green, it was grass. I looked up and saw plains of green and a few towers and domes of sparkling silver._

"_Welcome to Caspin." The Doctor said. "It is the year 1 billion and 7, this colony has been around for over 2500 years and it has quite the history."_

"_What happened here?"_

"_Well, remember the time junction I mentioned earlier? While it is harmless, it also makes the planet invisible to almost all forms of sensors and sight. It's a lost planet, cut off from all forms of communications from the outside universe. When it was first founded, the people on Caspin relied heavily on resources and governments from outside their system, but when the time junction appeared, the resources stopped coming and that's when things began going downhill. Warring factions formed and Caspin turned into a warzone, centuries of war... Many lives were needlessly lost. Then, a rather gifted human was born on this planet and, not only did she end the wars and unite the factions peacefully, she helped turn Caspin from a barren wasteland into this..."_

_He waved his arm over the landscape, pronouncing the beauty of it all. "Of course, this took centuries, millenia for it to be accomplished, well after she died but she started a chain of events that led to this..."_

_I stared, in complete shock, and tried to imagine a world of war and death in place of this world of paradise. He then took my hand, and led me to the nearby city, giving me a tour of the place. It was so peaceful, the people were so openly friendly, and they talked about all sorts of topics, most of which would be illegal on my world. There was that sense of disorganisation as on Terra but this didn't seem as bad as before. Maybe it was how the planet felt, sore, but healing and hopeful, or maybe I was now used to seeing things outside of the so-called Sacred Path. We met many people and, while not all were the friendliest, it was peaceful and relaxing and, well, fun. We passed by a small market, and we examined the stall of someone who was selling glass sculptures. I stared, surprised, art was illegal unless it glorified the Sacred Path. I took hold of a glass sphere, trying to figure out its meaning. As I looked into it, I wondered, could this be what my world may become if I continued to change the order? Perhaps I was making a difference, and it was all thanks to him, once again, my Doctor..._

The Speaker's silence as he finished the last words of the Speech jerked me from my memory. I quietly blessed this silence as the last parts of my dress were finished. I looked in a mirror and found my red hair merging perfectly with my radiantly crimson dress lined with gold and rubies. Then the Speaker frowned as he saw my back.

"We should do something about those. If the people see them, they may pronounce her a demon and we cannot have that."

I disagreed, but the others nodded their heads. This caused me to frown, I didn't want to hide something that I had grown so accustomed to. But I had already risked a lot by glaring furiously at the Speaker before, so I decided to let them add a gold Aegis with a flowing red cape to cover them. As they attached the extra piece of clothing, I was reminded about how I got them, or rather, when I got them, I'm still not sure how I had gotten them...

_As we returned to the TARDIS, my mind reeling from my experience in Caspin, something impossible happened. I felt a strange itchiness in my back and tried scratching at it, but I couldn't seem to reach it and it seemed to be getting worse. And then the itchiness jumped in strength, causing me to squeak in surprise and discomfort, I thought I also heard something rip. The Doctor turned and asked me what was wrong. I explained and he walked behind me to see what the problem was. Through the corner of my eye, I saw his mouth open slightly and his eyes widen in complete and utter shock._

"_What...?" He muttered, his voice tiny._

"_What is it?" I asked, concern in my voice._

_He didn't answer as he brought out the silver object with the blue light (his sonic screwdriver as he called it earlier), and shined it at my back for a second. He brought the screwdriver to his face as he examined it closely. He blinked several times and stared at my back again._

"_...What?" He said again._

"_Is something wrong? Tell me!" I said, I had never seen him like this, never so... confused._

"_This... I don't..." He stuttered, then he reached a hand out to my back, and I felt him grab something. It wasn't my back, but it should've been, but it wasn't. I felt him lift something, no, I felt the something being lifted up and it felt uncomfortable. "...What!?" He cried out once again._

"_Doctor! What's going on!?" I yelled out. I turned my head and saw what it was at the corner of my eye, it was a wing... an insect wing... I could see the veins of my blood inside it and his fingers through the membrane. I screamed. _

_We rushed into the blue box, he had me sit down and tried to keep me calm as he pulled out many odd devices, examining every part of my body and asking me questions like was I fully human, did I have some sort of genetic defect that I knew about, and did I eat any strange food. All in the span of 2 seconds while saying things like take deep breaths, think calm thoughts and don't look at the mirror to my left that has a perfect view of the wings on my back. I looked._

_Not even the Noise could calm me as he took the controls on the console and seemed to be pressing them at random, his hands a blur. I don't know what planet it was he brought me to, nor what the time period was, but it was a crowded city with numerous different species. Many vehicles flew or drove by us as we both rushed down the street, him leading and me still trying to contain my panic._

"_Where are we going?" I asked as I maneuvered between two large creatures that looked like they were made of wood._

"_There's a man I know who is an expert about genetic mutations, particularly ones that spontaneously happen, he's absolutely brilliant and may know more on why this happening to you."_

"_Wait, something like this has happened before?"_

"_Well, yes but not to such an extreme as growing a pair of giant bug wings and certainly not so quickly, usually these mutations are small and can easily be concealed and would take days, weeks, even months for them to form, not mere seconds like it was for you. Plus, they only usually happened through exposure to Lithua radiation, which isn't due to exist for another 2.5 billion years from your time."_

"_Lithua?"_

"_No time to explain! Now come on and keep up!"_

_But I was falling behind, he was running so fast, almost impossibly fast, and the crowds were getting thicker, I was losing sight of him. I didn't want to lose him, not in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar creatures and a pair of unfamiliar wings on my back, I didn't want to be alone now of all times. Then, my wings twitched and I stopped. I turned my head back as far as I could, but I couldn't see them. I could feel them though, I wondered... Slowly, I willed them to stretch open as far as they could. It felt very weird to move them, like an extra pair of limbs. They stretched on either side, slightly longer than my arms. A few passersby stopped to look, some in shock, some in admiration. Slowly, I had them flutter, I could hear clicks every time they brushed against each other, somehow, I knew that was completely natural. I had them flap faster and faster, until they were a blur and the clicking turned into a buzz. I also felt light and risked a small jump. I didn't fall back. I was hovering in the air, I could fly. I lifted myself up higher and higher, above the gathering crowd, who gasped in shock at my takeoff, looking around for him. I spotted his blue suit, a speck in the ground, and immediately dove after him. Just as I came over his head, he stopped, and turned around._

"_Oh no..." I heard him mutter. "This isn't good, if she's gone th- Where's that buzzing coming from?"_

_I hovered behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, he turned and saw me floating in the air, my wings a blur behind my back. He squeaked, __squeaked__ in surprise and fell back. After helping him up he stared at me in disbelief._

"_Okay, now that is definitely not possible, you shouldn't be able to fly with those..."_

_I giggled, this wasn't so bad. He then led me down the street and into a white building. It was in there, that he introduced me to Dr. Rupert Amado, who seemed to know the Doctor. Although he had several patients waiting, he made an exception with us when the Doctor explained what had happened. After following numerous tests for what felt like hours, I found myself seated on a bench, while the Doctor and... the other Doctor talked in private. Soon, they came back out, the Doctor looking much more calm. Amado bade his farewells and left to tend to his other patients while the Doctor came to me, smiling._

"_...Well?" I ask._

"_There's good news and bad news." He replied. "Good news is you won't be growing any more weird bug parts or anything like that. Bad news is those wings are permanent and we have some Lithua particles to collect back on Caspin."_

_And so we returned to Caspin. The Doctor flipped a few controls that would have the blue box gathering all the stray particles. Nothing exciting and it would take a while, however, it gave me time to practice flying with my new wings. The Doctor watched and made sure I didn't injure myself. It was good thing he was there because, despite my first time flying, I crashed a few times and would've ended up with worse than a few scrapes and bruises. As the familiar looking sun on Caspin began setting, casting a red and orange glow all around the plains, I landed softly on the grass and admired the sunset. As the wind blew, sending my hair flowing and I saw the familiar colours, I began thinking back to my home and how this change would affect me and everyone around me. For several moments I stood there, watching the scenery and wondered how I would adapt to my wings and how I could continue changing the Sacred Path. I don't know when, but I soon realized he standing next to me, watching the sunset with me. Perhaps it was his presence that kept me from worrying about things too much._

"_Are you going to be alright?" He asked._

_I didn't answer at first. "I'm more worried how this will affect my plans and my family, will people pronounce me a demon of some kind back home? I'm not sure..."_

_The Doctor looked around him slowly "I don't know... something tells me it won't change your plans too much."_

_I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"_

_He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I should be honest with you... that stuff I said about the time junction... I made it up... there is no such thing as a time junction, at least, not what I said there was. I was, in fact, piloting the TARDIS to a place that may or may not have been changed. You see, save for a few specific points, time is in flux, anything can happen, and time can change on a moment's notice. So I took a big risk taking the TARDIS to a place that may not have really existed and I could've easily sent us plummeting to the void."_

_I stared at him, confused, why did he lie? He cleared his throat and continued speaking._

"_And this isn't Caspin... Caspin was one of the moons of Gallifrey, my home planet, neither of them are around anymore..."_

_I gawked at the Doctor, a little mad at him. "If this isn't Caspin, then what planet is this?"_

_He looked at me, his sad brown eyes looking deep into me. "This is your planet, 2500 years from your time. That specific girl I mentioned that changed everything here was you I was talking about..."_

_I stared wide-eyed at him, before looking back at my home planet. I cried as I saw the beauty of my world, and I suddenly felt far more free._

_Soon, the TARDIS had finished and we returned inside. I decided I wanted to go back home and tell my grandparents about my wings, he had me arrive right outside my house. I opened the doors but stopped as I unexpectedly became very afraid of telling them. I felt a warm and cold hand grasp mine tightly. I didn't look at him as I heard his voice whisper into my ear._

"_Go on... You'll be fine..."_

_That was when I saw my grandfather working in his garden, he looked up at me with a surprised expression. I felt the Doctor's hand let go of mine as I stepped onto the ground and heard the doors of the blue box close behind me. I ran and embraced my grandfather, who hugged me tightly. Not a tear fell from me though. An hour later, I had explained and showed my grandparents my new wings and we hugged each other once more, that was when I heard the Noise once again, that was when I realized that he had been watching, making sure that I would be alright..._

"It's time." The Speaker said. "Go,"

I took a deep breath and began walking down the long hallway, my steps echoing on the golden walls. I stopped in front of two large golden doors, and waited as they opened just enough for me to step through. I walked through them as I had walked through the doors of the blue box for the first time.

Stepping outside, the warm air surrounded as the cheers of the entire city rised. I looked around, the city of crimson and gold, the sky covered in a dark red blanket of clouds that stretched across the entire planet. I walked up the steps where two of the senior priests stood, watching me with collected faces. When I came face to face with them, they raised their arms and the cheering of the crowds below stopped. Then, one of the priests spoke, his voice echoing across the city.

"You are about to take on a grand and glorious position, though you carry great influence and power, you also carry a great responsibility and a great burden." He then pulled out a long silver rapier, its golden handle gleaming. His hand delicately held the blade as he presented it to me. The other pulled out a long sceptre, a large translucent red stone on top of a merging of crimson wood and metal

"Use your newfound power to protect."

I took the sword as I had taken the key.

"Use your newfound power to guide."

I took the sceptre and gazed into the stone as I had with the glass orb.

The priests stepped to the side and allowed me to step forth, in view of the entire city.

"Hail to our first Empress, the absolute guide and ruler of us all, may she live long to guide us on the Sacred Path!"

At this, the entire city chanted; "Hail, Hail!" while I stood and watched them, observing the crowds of people in their red cloths, standing on the red-hued streets by the red-tinted buildings. That was when I saw a blue box amongst the crowd, and Him in a brown suit. He watched me, a wide yet tired smile on his face. I don't know how, but I just knew then, he was dying and he only had a few moments left. Sadness overtook as I gazed into his dying face, yet he still smiled at me. I then made a choice, right then and there.

Using my sword, the blade dancing around me, I snipped the pieces of the Aegis attached to me clean off, the red cape falling in a heap, and I extended my wings as far as I could, having them be completely visible. Immediately the chanting stopped as the crowd gasped in shock, the priests stumbled back in surprise. I didn't care what people would think, I wasn't afraid, I wouldn't let anyone take control of who I was, of what I wanted to believe. and if people didn't want to follow me, then that is their choice and I would not stop them. Silence reigned as I looked back at him and his smile widened even further. He was dying, but I had shown him how much he had changed me, how he had opened my eyes. I wish I could give him more, but as I looked into his dying eyes, I saw that my little display of defiance was reward enough. I saw him cringe and stumble back into the blue box, the box that I knew I would see for the final time. That was when the crowd began cheering suddenly, catching me off guard. I stared down at shock at them as they cried hail more far more fervently than before.

However, among the deafening roar of the crowd, I still heard the Noise as it echoed around. A small smile came to me as the Noise faded. I still had a lot of work to do, and though I would never live to see my home changed again, it was thanks to him, my Doctor, that I was doing this in the first place.


End file.
